Vacuum cleaner



Dec. 20, 1938. I F. RIEBEL. JR. ET AL 2,140,651

VACUUM CLEANER Filed Oct. 26, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet l N I INVENTORfi Zmm@@@% 20, 1938. F. IRIEBEL. JR, ET AL 2,140,651

' VACUUM CLEANER Filed Oct. 26, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Dec. 20,1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE VACUUM CLEANER Frederick RiebeL'Jn, andDewey M. Dow, Toledo, Ohio, assignors to Air-Way Electric ApplianceCorporation, Toledo, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Application October26, i935, Serial No. 46,896

1 Claim.

This invention relates to suction cleaners, and has for its object toprovide a novel arrangement of fan, fan motor, suction nozzle and motordriven rotary agitator, having the combination of the followingadvantages: agitator and fan driven from the same motor; agitator driveaccessible mounted. which is relatively more simple and inexpensive thanprior structures of the same general type.

Another obj ect-is to provide novel and improved means for detachablysecuring an agitation element to a rotary agitator spindle of a hollowshell type.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent in theexemplification set forth in the following detailed description makingreference to the appended drawings in which- Fig. 1 is a verticallongitudinal sectional view through the body of a vacuum cleanerembodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the rotary agitator embodied in the invention;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the agitator shell;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the agitator in a different position;

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view through parts of the agitator;

Fig. '7 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 'l--'l of Fig. 5;

Fig. 8 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 88-of Fig. 5;

Fig. 9 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 9-9 of Fig. 5, and

Fig. 10 is an internal plan view of a. section of the agitatorillustrating the brush mounting.

The invention provides a suction chamber l0 formed on its rear side witha throat H which broadens out where it merges with the suction chamber,as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2. The rear end of the throat II isformed integrally with a downwardly and rearwardly opening fan case I2,separated from the throat H by a dividing wall l3 in the center of whichis the fan inlet or eye M.

The electric motor l5, which drives the fan l8 and rotary agitator H ismounted on top of the throat H and fan case l2. The axis of the motor l5and fan case 12 is downwardly and rearwardly inclined. The motor shaftl8 projects from both ends of the motor l5 one end of the shaftprojecting downwardly through the throat II and into the fan case whereit carries the fan l6 and the other end projecting upwardly and beingprovided with a pulley l9 which drives the belt 20 and furnishes powerto the rotary agitator ll.

- The'belt 20 projects through a slot 2| in the suction nozzle l0, andis quarter twisted.

The direction of rotation is as indicated by the arrow 22, and therotary agitator sweeps the dust, etc., from'the carpet 23 rearwardlyinto' the throat II. The passageway from the suction nozzle Ill throughthe throat H, the eye of the fan H, the fan case and the fan casedischarge outlet 24, is a broad curve with no abrupt bends, sweepingfirst rearwardly and thence gradually upwardly until it is indirectalignment'with the inlet neck 25 of the collecting bag 26. This is madepossible by positioning the fan case low just clearing the carpet 23 andin an upwardly and rearwardly inclined plane, and positioning the throatI I above therfan case.

, The over-all height of the fan case and motor is .reduced to a minimumby the forward tilting of the motor which brings the highest point ofthe pulley l9 below the level it would have to assume if positioned on avertical axis. This forward tilting also brings the pulley l9 muchcloser to the agitator ll than it would otherwise be possible. Thepositioning of the fan case in the upwardly and rearwardly inclinedplane, makes it possible for the discharge outlet 24 to lie in the sameplane as the fan case thus eliminating bends in said discharge outlet,i. e., the plane of the fan case is aligned with the 'axis of bag inletneck 25.

Another advantage of the arrangement is the fact that the belt 20 lie'salmost wholly outside.

chamber l0 and its open end latched as at 29 against the top of the fancase l2. The motor and belt are made accessible by unlatching the latch29 and lifting the cover upwardly and forwardly. In doing so, it clearsthe fork 33 of the handle 3| which is hinged at 32 to the sides of thefan case II.

The cleaner is supported upon front wheels 33, mounted in wheel sockets33a formed integrally with the throat ll, andrear wheels 34 mountedonadjustable bracket 35 attached to the rear side of the fan case l2 orfan case cover 36.

The bag 29 is supported by a mast 31, the lower end of which is securedto the fan case-l2 or outlet 24. Some type of detachable connection 39is employed to suspend the upper end of the bag from the lower end ofthe mast 3 The rotary agitator I I comprises a hollow shell,

of metal tubing 39 and 40 respectively. The shell sections 99 and 40 areconnected by a pulley 4| which is formed with opposite integral collars42 secured in the ends of the shell sections 39 and go 40. The pulley 4|is of thin tubing, rounded so as to extrude the center portion to adiameter greater than that of the shell sections 39 and 40 and to reducethe collar portion 42 to a diameter such as to fit within the shellsections. For the remov- 35 able brush elements, slots 43 are cut intothe respective shell sections. Each slot 43 has spaced from itsrespective ends two sets of notches 44. Each brush element (Fig. 10) hasa back formed near its respective ends with two sets of a lugs 46 sopositioned as to pass through the notches 44 when one end of the back isclosely adjacent one end of the slot 43. In inserting the brush element,the lugs 46 are thus passed through the notches 44 and the brush elementis thence 5 moved longitudinally to the position shown in Fig. 10wherein the lugs are displaced from the notches 4d and are engagedbeneath the wall regions defining the slot 43. To this end, the upperextremes of the lugs 49 are positioned below 4.5 the upper face of thebrush back 46 (Fig. 6) so that the latter may projectupwardly throughthe slot 43. That portion of the brushback 45 which projects above thesurface of the shell is formed with longitudinal laterally extendingflangwdi which rest against the outer surface of the shell.

By the co-operative engagement of lugs 46 and flanges M with the rearand outer surfaces of shell respectively, the brush element is thus heldsecure against radial displacement. In order to prevent it from workingback to a position where the lugs 48 could pass through the notches 48,we provide a securing element 48, U shape in cross section, the web ofwhich is extended to form an end 49 through which a screw ill secures itto the shell 39 or 46 as the case may be. For the purpose, the shell isprovided with screw threaded bosses St. The securing element 48, is heldagainst rotating around the axis of the screw 5d by the edges of slot 43through the end region of which it projects.

Secured in the back it are the usual brush bristles 52.

The heating elements (Fig. 9) each comprise elongated channels 53 ofsmooth faced metal or the like and are secured to the edge 5% of a softrubber strip 55. The opposite edge region of the shown in Fig. 4 whichis built up of two sections" latter is mounted in a tubular trunnionmember 56 the ends of which are journalled in sockets 51 (Fig. 8) inmounting plates 58, and removable bearing caps 59. The mounting plates58 are secured in slots 60 cut in the shell member 39, 49, and areprovided with flanges 6| which are welded or otherwise suitably securedto the wall regions defining the slots 60. The slots 80 are wide enoughso that the axes of the trunnions 58 are disposed substantially belowthe extended cylindrical contour of the. shell 39, 40. This makes itpossible to increase the radius height of the beater elements withoutincreasing the over-all diameter of the agitator.

The rubber strip has lateral wings 62 which engage the flat surface ofthe mounting plate 53 and hold the beater element in the radiallyoutstanding position while allowing'it to recede under carpet contact.

Making the shell in two sections greatly facilitates the perforation ofslots 43 and 60. The pulley 4| serves as the means for connecting theshell sections and holding them in axial alignment. Cylindrical seamlesstubing is used to form the shell sections so as to assure accurate axialalignment. In the ends of the shell sections are discs 64 on which aremounted stub shafts 65 by means of which the rotary agitator isjournalled in the ends of suction chamber it.

The mounting plates 58 are die-pressed sheet metal and'can be made veryaccurately uniform. By cutting away a shell as at and inserting separatemounting plates, a difiiculty which would be encountered if an attemptwere made to simply flatten the shell member 99 or to is entirelyavoided. This difliculty would be the deforming of the adjacent regionsof the tube out of true cylindrical shape.

We claim as our invention:

A rotary agitator adapted to be mounted in the nozzle of a vacuumcleaner, said agitator comprising a. thinwalled tubular spindle and anagitating element detachably carried thereby, said spindle beingprovided with a slot extending longitudinally thereofand having notchesat its opposite sides, said agitating element including a back member ofless length than said slot and having a width such that it will fitsnugly between the sides of said slot, lugs on said back member inposition to/enter said notches when said back member is insertedinwardly into said slot, means to limit the inward movement of said backmember in said slot, the upper ends of said lugs cooperating with saidlast mentioned means to radially position said back by being receivedunder the walls adjacent the slot of said spindle upon longi tudinaldisplacement of the back so that one end of said back member is inengagement with the adjacent end of said slot and an engagement memberdetachably secured to said spindle at the other end of said slot andextending into that portion of the slot which is exposed by saidlongitudinal displacement.

FREDERICK RIEBEL, JR. DEWEY M. DOW.

